Ch-ch-Ch CHANGES....

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.... Man can I hear that song in my head when I write that.  Whoa how they came fast and furious in the 2nd half of 2011.  People that I keep in touch with often say that I have “so much going on”... well as of July and on...even I couldn’t keep up with the pace that life brought to me.  So I started 2012 with a new hair color and a sign of the changes I would choose to bring into 2012.  

One of the largest transitions was losing my job in July of last year.  I was ever so grateful to find a new one by September but I didn’t even slow down to understand some of the new habits that needed to come with it.  I was moving from 4+ years of working out of my home and I went to a 1hr+ daily commute to the office.  WHOA!!!  I lost being able to do laundry during the week, my middle of the day workout time, my ability to work in sweats, my lunch hour to do twitter and blog... AND I COULD GO ON AND ON!!  LOTS of other change news in the youtube video below ;) So now that I have got use to some of these changes, I am looking forward at how to make it a great 2012.  

First one I am concentrating on this week is food planning.... tomorrow is list writing and meal and snack planning.  Jump back next week and hold me accountable to how I do :)

Rock N Roll Chicago Recap

HERE WE ARE - at the finish line and with medals... and smiles ;)  

This race was more of a mental surprise than a physical one.  Not gonna lie... I was pretty scared at 4:30am on Sunday morning wondering when I might need to force myself to finish.  Happily I am here to report that I thoroughly enjoyed the race and was HAPPY up through mile 8.  After that I have to give some HUGE props to one of the race sponsors - XSport Fitness.  They had teams of 6-8 people at each mile all dressed up in rocker gear and extremely energetic to cheer us on!  Coming into mile 9 I was slowing down and doing some walking and the team was so fired up that it was contagious and got me through another mile.  PURE AWESOME!  Thank you XSport!  I am proud to say I am a happier member of your gym now!  

The wheels came off my bus totally just before mile 12.  We were in the Bears tailgating parking lot and I was dreaming of sitting on a chair and having a beer instead of trying to make my legs keep moving.  Pretty much every part hurt by then.  A total and complete stranger stopped and asked me my name... then proceeded to say her name was Sue and she was going to help me breathe in strength and exhale fatique for the next 10-15 minutes.  WOW.  Truly took my mind off how bad my feet wanted to cramp... my knees felt like they had been hit by a baseball bat... and I was soaking wet as it had started to rain.  Sue - if anyone knows you - YOU ARE MY ANGEL!

So with all that drama I crossed the finish line at 2:30.  I made it out there!  Which is more than Bret Michaels :( who cancelled his appearance last minute.  LOL... And 10 minutes off what I have done in my last two.  I was thrilled that I had that finish and reminded myself once again - when the heck am I going to start take training for these things more seriously!  Rock N Roll Vegas is December 4th... I do have a chance to redeem myself....

But on to the more fun part of the recap is my amazing shopping finds at the Expo!  I show case them here in my vlog and I must say I have not taken off these new Zoot shoes in 4 days - AMAZING!!  I mean a girl has to have a reason to run 13.1 miles... I can't think of a better one that some cute new finds ;)

Ready or Not... Here I RUN!

Oh... you know how when you haven't golfed for awhile sometimes you hit your best holes because you aren't trying to kill the ball or swing too hard... well do you think that is true for running?  :)  well let's hope so because as I explain it seems before every race I feel like I didn't do enough and this time - ANY running in the last month.  Life caught me and gave me a big dose and now I am just determined to stick with being a runner and give myself a finish no matter the time.

Loving my new goodies from the Competitor Group above for racing.  They were really a turning point in my running preparation mentally this week as I talk about in the video.  WELL... gotta run and go pick up the girls to head to the Expo and shop.  CROSS your fingers and toes for me about 8am tomorrow morning which is when my first "Why the hell am I doing this" will probably kick in.

Progress Pics

Today my CrossFit Challenge went to 9 sets and we are almost the end of teaching Amy how to do big girl push ups and building some lats.  So I thought I would take the opportunity to celebrate the progress and also look back to an old photo where I weighed the same (pre-baby even) and realize how much I have changed my body and mind without changing the scale.  Yes I even gave you a glimpse of said picture in this video.  This picture was 10 years old and I have made most of my changes in the past 4-5 years on diet and increasing my water intake.  But man when I look back at how much happier and stronger I feel - I wanted to remind myself and others that the number on the scale and the abs are not the thing to focus on - it's the health.  And one of my favorite quotes of all time right now is You can not have a happy ending with an unhappy journey.  And I am enjoying the process and the fun of trying new things and seeing what works in my life and what doesn't.  It's all just part of the process... and progress ;)

Zaarly Party Pics

 

Ms. Kelly Olexa and I hosted a kick off party for the holiday weekend and we had a blast.  Zaarly was a pretty fun service to play with as people helped us pull together our idea in just days!  Food, bartender, and party ware was taken care of with a few keystrokes.  We will do a more detailed review soon but wanted to get the party clips up first so you could start thinking of the possibilities of where Zaarly would be helpful in your area.  Kelly picked out her dream of Zaarly-ing boys to come wash her car... yes it's all in the video. :)